June 25, 2026 — 11:38am
The NSW government has warned the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service that its $500 million taxpayer-funded contract is at risk, as the iconic rescue service misses deadlines and blocks whistleblowers from speaking publicly during its investigation into claims of bullying, sexual harassment and safety breaches.
The “independent investigation” has been labelled a sham by whistleblowers, some of whom have been prevented from speaking to a parliamentary inquiry and the government regulator by non-disclosure agreements that prohibit them from talking to third parties. The rescue service’s contract is due to expire next year, and the government has said any new contract will take six months to negotiate.
This masthead and 60 Minutes revealed claims in October from a dozen whistleblowers who accused Westpac Rescue of “creating a culture of fear” that endangered the health and safety of its personnel, ignored sexual harassment, backdated training certificates, protected pilots and put patients at risk.
David Steirn, the Enterprise Investigations director appointed by Westpac Rescue to lead their probe, told The Australian Financial Review on Monday that investigators were beholden to their clients’ wishes and were a “creature of instructions”.
